Enterprising Takei nets $150K for Globe show

As Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," George Takei may have had to share the helm of the starship Enterprise with that upstart Chekov. But in real life, the actor has pretty much assumed full command of the Internet.

Takei has 304,000 Twitter followers, 1.3 million "likes" on his Facebook page and an army of fans on Youtube, where one of his videos has notched well over a million views.

And now he has marshaled those masses to support the Old Globe Theatre's world-premiere production of "Allegiance," a musical whose story centers on the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

About three weeks ago, he launched a fund-raising appeal for the production on IndieGoGo.com, one of several prominent "crowdfunding" sites that have popped up to help people with big ideas find grassroots financial support for their projects.

The stated goal for the fund drive was $50,000. The amount it actually raised: $158,322. That money came from a 5,276 backers, all listed on the site (although in many cases the donor's name and the amount contributed are not specified).

Grassroots online funding has become a powerful tool for smaller artistic endeavors, including some theaters around San Diego. But the "Allegiance" campaign ventures into somewhat uncharted territory, both because of the size of the production and because the money is going to the Globe through the show's producers rather than directly to the theater itself. (The Globe was not involved in the IndieGoGo effort.)

Here's what "Allegiance" producer Lorenzo Thione had to say about the campaign:

"The idea emerged from the desire from George himself to do something on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 (the 1942 presidential directive authorizing Japanese-American internment), to involve and mobilize his fan base and build support and buzz for 'Allegiance.'

"George's desire was to do something to help the development of 'Allegiance' and to get his social-media following engaged in spreading the word, and see if they would help in directly supporting a work on the central theme of the internment of Japanese-Americans. When we discussed the idea of doing a (fund) raising campaign, our mutual expectation was to collect significantly less than $50,000, and he was blown away by the response and the result of more than $150,000 raised to help produce 'Allegiance.'

"As we had discussed and planned on, to maximize the immediate impact of the funds raised, the entirety of the proceeds of the campaign are being contributed by George himself directly to the Old Globe in support of 'Allegiance,' specifically to reduce the need for enhancement capital on the part of the production."

Michael G. Murphy, the Globe's interim managing director, confirmed Thione's description of how the funds will be channeled.

"My understanding is that (Takei) will send a check to the Globe for that amount, which then goes to help the enhancement production funds that come from the producer," Murphy said. "So I believe he’s (essentially) helping the producers raise money."